The Harding University women’s basketball team had trouble taking care of the ball Tuesday night, but it didn’t have any problems with shooting and rebounding.
The Lady Bisons overcame a season-high 29 turnovers to defeat Queens (N.Y.) College 73-69 on Tuesday night in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight on the campus of Ohio Dominican University in Columbus.
Sydnie Jones led Harding (31-3) with 22 points and 17 rebounds, and the Lady Bisons outrebounded the Knights 47-39.
Harding women’s Coach Tim Kirby was impressed with his team’s resiliency in a lessthan-stellar performance.
“They don’t let the game get away from them, no matter how bad they make it look sometimes or making it ugly,” Kirby said. “The girls understand how to continue to play and not let it affect them mentally.
“They are very competitive. Whether they are making mistakes or not, we just tell them to keep playing. We get on them a little bit, but it’s a team that encourages each other and I think that goes a long way, being able to overcome stuff that doesn’t always go right on the floor.”
Harding, winners of 17 in a row, advanced to today’s 7:30 p.m. semifinals at Alumni Hall against Ashland (Ohio), which improved to 35-0 earlier Tuesday with a 82-67 victory over West Texas A&M.
The game can be seen on CBS Sportsnetwork.
Jones was one of three players who scored at least 10 points for Harding. A’ndrea Haney had 15 points and Caroline Hogue finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Harding made 28 of 59 (47.5 percent) from the field and 14 of 19 from the free-throw line. The Lady Bisons were 3 of 6 on three-point attempts.
Queens (27-5) was led by Mackenzie Rowland’s gamehigh 23 points. She also had 10 rebounds. Madison Rowland had 19 points, 10 steals and 7 rebounds.
Harding, which had a 15-point lead in the third quarter, led 57-45 entering the fourth quarter, but Queens tied the game at 58-58 with 6:04 to play on Beth Bonin’s three-pointer.
“They were making some tough shots,” Kirby said. “We knew being up 15, the game was not over.”
The Lady Bisons took a 64-58 lead with 4:47 left, but Queen’s Madison Rowland cut the lead to 66-63 with 3:00 to play on a three-point play. Harding stretched its advantage to 70-65 with 2:25 left on Sydney Layrock’s layup. Madison Rowland hit a three-pointer for Queens to cut the lead to 70-67 with 2:04 remaining. Layrock then made 1 of 2 free throws for a 71-67 lead with 1:16 left.
Queens closed to 71-69 on two free throws by Mackenzie Rowland with 1:04 to play.
Peyton Padgett missed a jumper for Harding with 45 seconds to play, but Queens’ Madison Rowland turned the ball back over to Harding with 31 seconds to play.
Haney was fouled by Merrick Rowland and made two free throws to push the Harding lead to 73-69 with 12 seconds left. Madison Rowland attempted a three-pointer for Queens with two seconds remaining, but it did not fall and Jones got the rebound for the Lady Bisons.
Harding led 33-31 at halftime, and outscored Queens 13-0 in the third quarter to lead 48-33 with 4:28 to play in the quarter. Jones scored six points, Hogue converted a three-point play, Haney had a basket and Layrock made two free throws during that stretch.
Queens trimmed the lead to 48-41, but Falan Miller’s three-pointer pushed Harding’s lead to 51-41 with 2:07 to play in the third quarter.
Harding, which fell behind 18-9 early, trailed 21-18 after one quarter.
Hogue’s jumper cut the lead to 23-20 with 6:42 left in the second quarter and Layrock’s three-pointer tied the game at 23-23 at the 6:16 mark. But Queens regained the lead with 5:51 left in the first half on Madison Rowland’s jumper.
Harding took a 31-29 lead on Miller’s jumper with 1:36 remaining in the second quarter and Queens called a timeout. Kaitlyn Mahon tied the game at 31-31 for Queens before Hogue gave Harding the lead again, 33-31 with 28 seconds to play in the half with a jumper.
Harding, the Great American Conference regular-season and tournament champions, reached its first Elite Eight by winning the Central Region. Now, it faces only undefeated team left in Division II basketball, men’s or women’s, in Ashland.
“We’ll go to the hotel and start thinking about Ashland,” Kirby said. “We’ve got less than 24 hours to play the next one. I know the girls will battle and play a good team.
“Everybody’s good at this point.”
Information for this article contributed by Harding Sports Information and NCAA.com .
At a glance
ELITE EIGHT
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Virginia Union 78, Columbus State 73 California Baptist 77, West Florida 69 Ashland 82, West Texas A&M 67
Harding 73, Queens (N.Y.) 69
SEMIFINALS
TODAY’S GAMES — All times Central
Virginia Union (27-4) vs. California Baptist (35-2), 5 p.m.
Ashland (35-0) vs. Harding (31-3), 7:30 p.m.